[Published in The New York Times, January 1998.]
A RESPONSE TO THE PUBLIC MESSAGE OF PRESIDENT KHATAMI TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE
January 13, 1998
His Excellency President Mohammad Khatami
Islamic Republic of Iran
Tehran, Iran
Your Excellency,
We, the American Baha'is, residing in more than seven thousand cities and
towns across the United States and representing all races, cultures and
ethnic origins in our nation, have listened with great interest to your
words addressed to the American people, of which we are an organic part.
Your message prompts us to address you directly, because of your expressed
dedication to the principles of freedom, justice and the rule of law -
principles which, as you noted, are cherished by the American people.
We who enjoy such freedoms hope that our co-religionists in Iran, who have
been deprived of them, will be granted their full rights as law-abiding
citizens of your nation.
We are particularly encouraged by your assertion "that religion and
liberty
are consistent and compatible." As you said, "Human experience
has taught
us that prosperous life should hinge on three pillars: religiosity,
liberty and justice." These, you concluded, "are the assets and
aspirations of the Islamic Revolution as it enters the twenty-first
century."
Are the Baha'is of Iran -
your nation's largest religious
minority - included in these
aspirations?
Your explicitly stated determination to fulfill the provisions of the
Iranian Constitution and to establish the rule of law gives us hope that
the freedom of the Baha'i community in Iran openly to practice its religion
will be guaranteed.
May we not expect, in the light of your commitment to human dignity and
freedom, that the United Nations General Assembly Resolution
(A/RES/52/142), which calls for the emancipation of the Baha'i community of
Iran, will now be implemented?
Respectfully yours,
THE BAHA'IS OF THE UNITED STATES
Robert Calvin Henderson
Secretary
NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY OF THE BAHA'IS OF THE UNITED STATES
1320 NINETEENTH ST., N.W., SUITE 701 . WASHINGTON, D.C. 20036 . 202.833.8990
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